


Basic Human Sympathy

by kunnskat



Series: Basic Humanity [2]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Continuation of Basic Human Decency, Gen, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-07 17:30:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11063748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kunnskat/pseuds/kunnskat
Summary: It could be karma. She had changed things. She'd made a difference. Maybe she wasn't supposed to and this is her having to learn it all over again. Maybe she is supposed to die grey and old and without interfering.It's fine that way here, right? Most people survive just fine, the ones who don't will be happy to stay that way. She doesn't have to change anything here, they will be fine in the end, just like this.Right?





	Basic Human Sympathy

"Honey, could you come inside for a moment?"

Lifting her head, she gives her mother a quizzical look, head tilting in a silent inquiry. 

"It's a conversation we feel it's time for us to have, please?"

She nods, and raises herself from the grass, leaving her flip flops behind as she enjoys the feel of it on her way inside. She's not worried, her current family is a kind one, they'd never wish her harm, and so this conversation must be something joyful, like perhaps a new sibling coming into the world or along those lines. She's not expecting anything world changing, her parents are a normal couple in a normal town with minimal outside contact. 

She likes this world. A lot more than any other she could have ended up in. 

"Sweetheart," her father begins nervously, as is normal of him when he has to attempt to speak with her and not to so she doesn't pay that much attention, "we've noticed that you don't play with the other children in the town, much..."

Ah. So either new sibling or they're attempting to set up a play-date. Either is not the end of the world, so whatever it is, she will make do. 

A younger sibling would be nice, though. 

"What your father is saying, is that we are worried about you. Not because we think we need to be! Your hobbies are good hobbies! But-" Her mother is starting to ramble. That's fine, too, she always gets like that about her hobbies. It's not normal for the people of this town, it's more outsider hobbies than anything, but most people don't bother judging her for it. They're expecting her to eventually up and leave, and until she starts being destructive or attracting danger, it's fine for her to stay.

She's not planning on leaving, though. 

This is her safe spot. Her home. Far away from the danger spots. 

She's not going anywhere. 

-

They gave up on that conversation only temporarily. There were five more attempts that very week and they never once got to the point of it. 

Eventually she'd just begun to zone out of them all, they were just repeats, and as much as she loves her parents, their habits and personalities can be annoying in such high doses.

Unfortunately, it means that she misses some things, like how they get a little further in every time. Zoning back in to hear "..and they've got children around your age there, too, with the same kind of hobbies, so you'd have something to talk about and maybe you'd be able to make some friends, so you won't-" is a little disconcerting. Actually, make that 'suddenly terrifying' and the way she freezes up, as if faced with a bear and her only safety is pretending to play dead, might make a little more sense. 

She probably shouldn't have zoned out. 

"What?" She tries, hoping they'll start making sense. They're talking like they've gotten her some group of babysitters. It's got to be babysitters. 

"A guild, sweetheart, with people just like you," her mother babbles some more, obviously trying to sell this, but she sure as heck knows there's no guild in this town. Which would mean leaving. And joining guilds also means staying with said guild. Are they moving?

No way. 

"I like this town better, let's stay here," she interrupts, barely noticing her father twitch and gain a guilty look. 

What? Did they already sell the house? No, they'd have told her before selling the house, right? 

"We- we are," he mumbles. Oh. 

"But then, why are you talking about a guild?"

"Honey..." This time it's her dad doing the trying. "We- we think... We have decided it is time for you to broaden your horizons." He changes tune in the middle of the attempt, and it sounds exactly like he's been reading some travelling pamphlets. Which. What?

Just. What!?

-

It takes her an entire day to figure out how to fix it. 

"Do you not want me anymore?"

They're essentially giving her away. She's barely entered teenhood. Teenhood? Teenagerhood? Whatever. She just entered her teens. It'd be irresponsible to send her off to join some guild. She barely knows any magic, like, it may seem a lot to them, but she still remembers a lot of the stuff going on in Fairy Tail, so she's just. Not ready for any of it. 

Her parents stumble over platitudes and attempts of trying to deny it, telling her they just want her to be happy and whatnot. 

"But I'm happy here."

She'll take boring white picket fences and happy neighbors over dangerous guilds any time, thank you. Especially given her choices. They might be far off from Fairy Tail itself, but pretty much every guild in this country will be involved in the war eventually. They may seem like safe guilds, but it's all just an illusion.

-

It didn't fix it. 

Shoulders slumped, she stares down at the grass she's been plucking, giving her parents the silent treatment in a vague hope that they'll meet this mage and go all, no, never mind, we don't want our daughter with this group of ruffians - or something. She knows they're fully trustworthy to protect her if it comes down to it, but she also needs that they'll need to, too. They get into trouble too much not to. 

She doesn't want to always be fighting for her life. She's been there, done that, and didn't even get the t-shirt to prove it. Not that she could've brought it along into her new life, anyway, but that's not the point. 

The point is. She's not going to change anything, which means not getting involved at all, because her mere presence changes things. 

If she'd known this would be the result of her tampering with magic out of her curiosity, she wouldn't have bothered. She'd have adopted a fake attitude of hatred for it, if only so no one ever brought it up around her. 

She has obviously not learned her lesson, it's just that last time she'd known she was going to end up a Marine no matter what she did, it was the curse of having Marine parents. 

These parents were normal. It should have been safe. 

Damn it. 

-

"Honey! Your guide is here!" 

She lays down and rolls under one of the bushes, glaring out of it. Like hell. She's not going.

There's no other sounds than those of her surroundings until someone's speaking to her from just behind her, just outside of those bushes, "hey, you're pretty good at hiding. Is that the magic you practice?" and she's just got to turn around and given an incredulous look at the speaker, disbelief at the very thought, who'd even consider such a thing when it's obvious that it's not--

She opens her mouth to speak but loses any words at the sight of her guide, surprised at the blonde, pretty girl in front of her, smiling back at her from where she's kneeling in front of the bushes. 

"I'm Lucy, and I'm a mage of Fairy Tail," she introduces herself, and she still can't find any words to return the greeting, but a part of her thinks that maybe it's a good thing. Maybe they'll decide they don't like her and thus don't want her. And then they'll forget about her. 

But. If Lucy's already there, and with how she looks, then... Maybe all the danger is over? How old was Lucy, even, by the time it all finished? Are those bags under her eyes a sign of aging? Can she trust that she'd be safe if she goes to Fairy Tail now? What if she makes them not want her and then, because they're no longer in danger and have reached the happily ever after part, decide to not help this town if it gets in trouble? Would she be okay with that?

Struggling with the fears and worries that made this life horrible from the get go, she reaches out to take the hand offered to her, shake it just the once, then retreats.

-

Somehow, she hasn't scared Lucy off. Instead she's just made Lucy more determined to make her come along. She's not sure what it is that she's said or done, or if it is her parents that are responsible for all of it, but she takes a moment every single time she thinks it to just pause and curse it. Eventually it becomes something along the lines of cursing herself for going along with it, when Lucy sits outside with her and laughs at the sassy remarks she can't help but let pour out of her with such a welcoming audience. 

Every day that passes, she's sure she'll wake up and hear Lucy saying she's got to go and that it's now or never if she wants to come along, and every day she's surprised to find her patiently waiting for her decision, cheerfully telling her that they're going to be family, so it's really the least she can do, and she can't wait to have another sane person around. 

Just for that, she promises herself that she won't be anywhere near sane. And then she's cursing herself again, because she implied she'd be coming along after all.

-

She follows Lucy into the guild, the wild and noisy guild that has her shrinking behind the blonde in discomfort, but still keeping a hold of that hand which has become her lifeline.

She's not really ready for any of this, but she wants that family she's been promised, someone that'll follow her into new dimensions to bring her back. She wants to not have to start a new life over and over again, waiting until death decides to stop throwing her away every time she dies. She wants a life. Singular. With people that'll fight to not let her go even when the end is there and waiting. 

She wants to belong somewhere that'll also belong with her for the rest of her time. 

Lucy promised, on a day when she'd curled up in the garden and refused to talk after dreaming of sacrificing her life to someone who'd deserved to live so much more than her, that none of them would ever die, and they'd never let her, either. Their guild is their family and no one has to go unless they want, and even then they might not be allowed to. 

She remembers how Fairy Tail goes and somehow she finds herself believing it.


End file.
